Related Art
Wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones to provide an example, are becoming commonplace in both personal and commercial settings. The wireless communication devices provide users with access to all kinds of information, as well as the ability to communicate with other such devices across large distances. For example, a user can access the internet through an internet browser on the device, download miniature applications (e.g., “apps”) from a digital marketplace, send and receive emails, or make telephone calls using a voice over internet protocol (VoIP). Consequently, wireless communication devices provide users with significant mobility, while allowing them to remain “connected” to communication channels and information.
Wireless communication devices communicate with one or more other wireless communication devices or wireless access points to send and receive data. Typically, a first wireless communication device generates and transmits a radio frequency signal modulated with encoded information. This radio frequency signal is transmitted into a wireless environment and is received by a second wireless communication device. The second wireless communication device demodulates and decodes the received signal to obtain the information. The second wireless communication device may then respond in a similar manner. The wireless communication devices can communicate with each other or with access points using any well-known modulation scheme, including simple amplitude modulation (AM), simple frequency modulation (FM), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), phase shift keying (PSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), and/or orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), as well as any other communication scheme that is now, or will be, known.
Different wireless communication devices may communicate using any one of different radio access technologies (RATs), including WiMAX, LTE, 4G, 3G, and WiFi, among others. However, because each wireless communication device is typically capable of communicating using only one of the RATs, the device is significantly restricted in its versatility, and may be confined to a communication path of lower quality or having lower bandwidth.
Alternatively, some devices may be capable of communicating using multiple RATs. However, each RAT is typically only used when communicating with a specific device using the same RAT. For example, a laptop computer may include both WiFi and 3G capabilities, but only uses its WiFi to communicate with a home network and uses its 3G to communicate with a base station within a cellular network. Similarly, a mobile phone may include both LTE and 3G capabilities, but always communicates over LTE when available, and only communicates over 3G when LTE is unavailable.
Current communication standards (e.g., LTE) provide little if any support for cooperation between RATs. For example, such communication standards may allow for full duplex RAT to RAT handovers. In such current standards, more complex RAT to RAT interaction is not defined or supported, because, among other reasons, conventional communication flows via different RATs are generally considered to be unrelated. Such standards also define various communication techniques such as channelization, channel bonding, cross channel encoding, etc. for use entirely within a single RAT.
Regardless of whether the device includes only a single RAT or is capable of communicating using multiple RATs, traditional wireless communication devices are severely restricted in their abilities to communicate with other wireless communication devices.
Embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.